Paramedics found the relatives desperately trying to revive the victim when they arrived.

Detective Superintendent Michael McLean said the shooting appeared to be a targeted attack.

He said the victim was known to police, but there was nothing yet to suggest he had any gang affiliations or there were any links to recent shootings in the area.

Mr Arja is the cousin of Sanaa Arja, who lives only a few streets away in the suburb of Punchbowl.

Her husband, Ali Hachem Eid, 38, was killed when two masked gunmen entered his home on November 27 and shot him.

Another man who was at the home, electrician Mohammed Hanouf, 34, was also shot multiple times but survived.

He was one of six men who were renovating the house when the attack took place.

Cousins who gathered at the scene this morning said Mr Arja worked long hours at a tobacconist shop he owned in Punchbowl but said he also loved taking his boat or jetski out onto the water whenever the weather was good.